The appointment owns
The fractional Chief Data Officer sets the first data priorities, agrees common definitions and reviews a small quality backlog with named owners.
fractional executive recruitment
Hire Fractional Chief Data Officer
Hire Fractional Chief Data Officer: give an external data executive recurring days to set data direction, settle ownership and help teams act on dependable evidence.
Brief us on this role →Chief Data Officer briefChoose a part of the brief
Part 01 / 04
Decision to improve
Choose the business or service decision currently blocked by poor data.
Part 02 / 04
Recurring work
Define the weekly governance, quality or data-product decisions the executive will hold.
Part 03 / 04
Working team
Identify the analysts, engineers and data owners who can carry work forward between days.
Part 04 / 04
Escalation
Name who handles privacy, security or data-quality incidents outside the executive days.
Hire Fractional Chief Data Officer: what must the role own?
Choose the business or service decision currently blocked by poor data.
Decision to improveChoose the business or service decision currently blocked by poor data.
Recurring workDefine the weekly governance, quality or data-product decisions the executive will hold.
Working teamIdentify the analysts, engineers and data owners who can carry work forward between days.
EscalationName who handles privacy, security or data-quality incidents outside the executive days.
Role reference: Government Digital and Data: Chief Data Officer capability framework. The framework separates data strategy, quality, access, governance and responsible use from the broader digital-service portfolio. Use it to name the data decisions in this brief; a private organisation should adapt the remit to its own context.
What changes when the Chief Data Officer is fractional?
Fractional means a continuing data-leadership remit on agreed days. It does not turn the Chief Data Officer into a report writer. Name the data decisions this executive owns, the team that works between days and the conditions for increasing or ending the pattern.
fractionalChoose a part of the brief
Part 01 / 04
Days
Agree the recurring days and which decisions cannot wait for the next scheduled session.
Part 02 / 04
Authority
Give the leader clear decision rights on those days, rather than an advisory title without ownership.
Part 03 / 04
Cover
Name who handles urgent work between the agreed days.
Part 04 / 04
Review
Review the scope when the workload changes; do not assume the original pattern will always fit.
How would this work in a real brief?
The hiring decision becomes clearer when the work and its boundary are written down together.
Illustrative brief · a growing company preparing its first data strategy
Teams have dashboards but disagree on definitions and ownership. A full-week executive seat is not yet justified by the work.
The fractional Chief Data Officer sets the first data priorities, agrees common definitions and reviews a small quality backlog with named owners.
Another owner retains
The internal data lead runs daily analysis and incidents; the digital lead retains customer-channel delivery.
How should you assess Chief Data Officer candidates?
Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.
The evidenceChoose a part of the brief
Part 01 / 04
First data choice
Ask candidates to choose one data problem from the same sample and explain why it comes first.
Part 02 / 04
Governance in practice
Test how they would assign an owner and resolve a disputed definition without creating a committee for every decision.
Part 03 / 04
Between-day cover
Ask what the internal team should decide without waiting for the next executive day.
Part 04 / 04
Exit condition
Ask when the organisation should move the remit to a permanent seat or a different scope.
Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.
Does this hiring pattern fit the work?
Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.
The working pattern · fractional
A fractional Chief Data OfficerAn external executive owns a continuing remit on agreed days. Set the decision rights and cover between those days.
What must happen before the Chief Data Officer starts?
Agree one decision to improve and the data evidence it needs.
A clear startChoose a part of the brief
Part 01 / 04
Outcome
Agree one decision to improve and the data evidence it needs.
Part 02 / 04
Days
Set recurring days and the meetings that need executive authority.
Part 03 / 04
Owners
Name the internal data, privacy and technology contacts between those days.
Part 04 / 04
Review
Check whether definitions, ownership and access are improving the chosen decision.
- 1
Outcome
Agree one decision to improve and the data evidence it needs.
- 2
Days
Set recurring days and the meetings that need executive authority.
- 3
Owners
Name the internal data, privacy and technology contacts between those days.
- 4
Review
Check whether definitions, ownership and access are improving the chosen decision.
A useful Chief Data Officer brief names the decision, the working pattern and the evidence before it names a candidate.
What should the brief say?
Hire Fractional Chief Data Officer begins with decision to improve, a stated working pattern and the evidence you will ask every candidate to show.
15 minutes · video or phone
Brief us on a Chief Data Officer
Tell us what the role must own, how it will work and when it must start.
- 01A brief built around the decisions and working pattern.
- 02A shortlist of 3–5 with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
- 03Five-stage vetting before a candidate reaches you.
Pick a day that suits · live availability
